Found
by Tejanochica
Summary: Sequel to Lost. Jiyuudo finally found who she is; now all that's left is to find a place where she belongs, but that's easier said than done. She is being pulled in a dozen different directions, including back to the village she deserted, towards one broody missing nin, and down the path of revenge for a family she never knew.
1. Chapter 1

"Isamu," a woman's worried voice carried on the wind to a man tending a small garden.

The man looked up and directed his golden gaze towards the doorway of a small cottage as the wind played with his light brown hair. In the doorway was a woman with ruby eyes wearing a strained expression as white bangs danced in her face and black strands tickled her collarbone. Instantly the man was on his feet, going to her side and placing a dark-skinned hand on her shoulder.

"Her fever," the woman managed to say in a shaking voice as she brought one of her pale, trembling hands to her mouth. "It's gotten worse."

"We have to take her to a doctor," Isamu said as he looked over the woman's shoulder into the cottage; he could just barely make out the form on a low cot beside the hearth.

"Well, we can't go to Konoha," the woman sighed as her hand moved to rub her temples. "The next closest hospital would be in Iwagakure."

"Then we take her there."

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the window and splayed out against the white walls and tile floor of the hospital room. Outside birds were singing and if you listened hard enough you could hear the sound of a bustling market not far away, but no sound penetrated the glass panes. Inside the room the only sounds that could be heard was the steady beep of a heart monitor and the hum of other machines. Tucked firmly into white sheets a girl lay on the bed with her head turned towards the window. The only movement from the girl was the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and the occasional blink of her gold-flecked purple eyes.

The door to the room creaked open and a young nurse shuffled quietly in. She walked over to the foot of the bed and scanned the chart hanging from a hook. According to the chart the patient didn't need any more medicine, just a new I.V. bag that was to be changed daily until she regained consciousness. Simple enough. The nurse nodded to herself as she retrieved the required item from the cart she had wheeled in after her.

"Can you please open the window?" the girl on the bed asked when the nurse crossed in front of her.

The nurse almost dropped the bag in her hands at the sound of the girl's voice. She looked around in mild panic until she realized that it was the patient who had spoken.

"Ah, you scared me!" the nurse breathed a sigh of relief, a hand over her racing heart.

"Sorry," the girl smiled weakly. "The window?" she tried again, her eyes flicking to the glass set into the wall.

"My apologies," the nurse said with a small smile, "the window's do not open in this building."

"Oh," the girl's voice sounded faint.

"Excuse me, I must go get the doctor," the nurse bowed slightly after placing the I.V. on the bedside table.

The girl groaned as she pushed herself into a sitting position and allowed her head to rest against the wall behind her. The white ceiling swam in her vision and she had to close her eyes against the nausea that welled up in her stomach.

"Good to see that you're awake," a new voice came from the doorway, "we were beginning to worry about you."

The girl opened her eyes and looked over at the door and blinked the spots from her vision. There was a woman with dark hair pulled into a bun wearing a white lab coat walking in with a young assistant trailing after her head down with a pen ready to write notes onto a clipboard. The woman – whom the girl assumed to be the doctor – gave a reassuring smile when she drew closer.

"I'm sure you're a bit confused," the doctor said as she reached the bedside. "That's to be expected, you were out for a long time."

"How long?" the girl asked.

"About a month and a half," the doctor informed as she checked the display on the heart monitor. "Now, you came in with a head injury," the woman began as she pulled out a pen light and shone it in the girl's eyes. "I need you to follow the light with your eyes only, please," she said when the girl tried to pull away.

"Pupil dilation is normal, as is eye movement," the doctor dictated to the assistant.

The assistant nodded and began to write furiously, the scratching of pen on paper joined the steady beep of the heart monitor.

"Can you tell me what your name is?" the doctor asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Jiyuudo," the girl answered quickly.

"Okay, good," the doctor nodded as the assistant scratched a few more notes. "Do you remember how you hit your head?"

"I fell," Jiyuudo answered after a long moment, "I'm not sure how, but I know I fell." That was a lie, but the doctor didn't need to know that.

"Hmm," the doctor hummed as she stood up and signaled for the assistant to follow her. "You're going to be weak for the next few days Jiyuudo-san, but that will pass with regular exercise. Rest for now," she ordered as she reached the doorway.

Jiyuudo nodded in confirmation before turning to look out the window again.

* * *

Sasuke could tell that Orochimaru was pissed. He had only been living in the Sanin's base for a little over a year and he could tell. He watched in boredom as his teacher killed the third servant that day.

"Perhaps you should find another way to vent your anger," Kabuto suggested carefully, "good underlings are hard to come by these days…"

"Silence, Kabuto!" Orochimaru hissed as he shot a glare at his white-haired second in command. "Or else you'll be next!"

The older teen frowned, obviously not liking the tone he had been spoken to, but remained quiet none the less as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. Sasuke wondered who or what had caused the man to fly into such a state of anger as he looked at the latest bloodstain to decorate the walls of the underground hideout. Maybe one of his experiments failed or something along those lines…

"Sasuke-kun," the Snake Sage started in a somewhat calmer tone, "I want you to prepare yourself, we're going to go on a journey to further your training."

"Hn, whatever."


	2. Chapter 2

Jiyuudo leaned against the chain link fence on the hospital's rooftop with eyes closed as she breathed deeply. It had been about a week since she had woken up and she was beginning to get restless. At least she could find a little peace on the roof with the sun shining down on her and the wind tugging at her hair. She let out a content sigh as she leant back with her arms outstretched and fingers twined into the fence.

"Ah, there you are Jiyuudo-san."

She recognized the assistant's voice and she opened her eyes with a slight frown. Her moment of peace was gone.

"Time for medicine?" she asked tiredly as she turned around to face the young woman.

The assistant looked to be about a year or so older than she was with black hair pulled back into a pony tail and light brown eyes. She always wore a set of light blue scrubs and carried the same clipboard where she would scribble notes from time to time. Jiyuudo hadn't learned her name, that or she forgot it – "Short term memory loss," the doctor had said, "an unfortunate side effect of a particularly nasty head wound".

"Nope," the assistant smiled as she held the clipboard behind her back, "you've been cleared to leave, isn't that great?"

"Yeah," Jiyuudo didn't sound nearly as excited as she should have, "fantastic."

The truth was that even though she was getting tired of being stuck in the same place, she was terrified of the idea of being on her own. Mostly because she didn't know where she could go; maybe she could go back to the mountains? Yeah, that sounded good. She had family there; she could stay with them until she figured things out.

"Well, good luck," the assistant broke her out of her thoughts, "maybe our paths will cross again someday."

"Yeah," Jiyuudo said softly as she turned her face back to the sky, "someday."

* * *

"Can you or can you not track the chakra?" Orochimaru asked in a dangerously low tone as the tracker nin before him broke out into a cold sweat.

"Erm, well… you see," the man started as he glanced around at the "disappointments" scattered around his feet. "It's a very – ah – complicated process… you c-can't rush things like… like this."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed at his fumbling answer and the man knew that he had blown it. He was going to die. Before another complete thought could pass through his mind the Snake Sage had a pale hand wrapped around his throat and began to squeeze the life out of him.

"I do not tolerate failures in my ranks," he hissed into the twitching man's ear before tossing him aside like a rag doll. "Kabuto!" he snapped, turning around to find his second in command.

The silver-haired man looked up from the tree bark he had been examining and padded over to his master like a faithful dog. Sasuke watched this with mild disgust as he lounged on the head of a long dead giant snake. He picked at some of the white scales and watched them float away on the breeze as he listened to the two confer about something that he supposed was important; to them at least.

"I'm sorry Orochimaru-sama," he heard the soft rustle of fabric as Kabuto shook his head, "but there's nothing to work with, it's all been corrupted by the elements by now."

Sasuke tried to remember what they were even doing there in the first place. One of Orochimaru's summons had been killed, he had gathered that much by the dead snake occupying most of the clearing and then some. Right now they were looking for some way to track who ever had killed it, and that was where things were getting tricky. There was plenty of blood, but the wind and the rain had washed away any scent except for that of the rotting corpse, so ninja hounds were out. Tracker nin were proving difficult as well, apparently the chakra signature was a challenge to pin down; though its presence was hard to ignore in the clearing. Kabuto had been trying to find a blood sample from the mystery killer so he could try and track him that way, but that had ended up as a failure as well.

"Very well," Orochimaru sighed, "send for _her_."

"My Lord, there is no need," Kabuto tried to change his master's mind, "I can find another way –"

A sharp slap cut through the clearing and Sasuke looked curiously over at the two. Kabuto had his head turned to the side and he thought he could see a faint red mark beginning to form on the man's pale cheek. He turned back to picking at the snake's skin feigning indifference, but on the inside he was pleased that Kabuto had been put into his place in such a humiliating way.

"Don't second guess me," Orochimaru ordered. "You **will** retrieve her. Pray that I do not send you from my sight."

Sasuke scoffed to himself; he wished that Orochimaru would get rid of Kabuto; he was a meddling annoyance at best in his eyes. But even a meddling annoyance was better than what was coming if he was right about who they were sending for. And he prayed that he was wrong.

* * *

Isamu frowned to himself as he dug roots out of the ground, pulling at them with more force than usual. He never did like it when people went wandering around the mountains. Partly because he liked his privacy, but mostly because he knew what happened to those who lingered for too long. If they were lucky they would turn up after a few months no worse for wear, but if they weren't lucky then they wouldn't turn up at all. Most people would claim that it was the work of spirits, but Isamu knew that it was the work of something more sinister and territorial than spirits.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't that the girl has squealed when she had arrived. It wasn't even that she looked for excuses to try to hug him. It was how she would watch him from the corner of her eyes constantly that annoyed him the most.

Sasuke sent the girl yet another glare when he felt her gaze linger too long on him. The girl's red eyes widened when she knew she had been caught and a blush dusted her cheeks as she pretended to be looking at something else near him. He closed his eyes and had to try very hard to keep his annoyed sigh to himself; he thought he had been done with girls like her when he had left Konoha.

Konoha… how was his old village doing? Just the thought of those happy, oblivious fools made his blood boil. How could they live like that when his clan had been brutally slaughtered in front of his eyes? The scowl on his face grew as he thought of the injustices done to him, but no. He didn't hate the village, no matter how insensitive the residents were; he hated his brother, the one who had committed the horrible act.

"So, Karin-chan," Orochimaru started in a measured voice, steeling himself for more disappointment, "Can you track the chakra signature, or was bringing you out here a waste of time?"

Sasuke had to scoff at this. Of course bringing her out to this Gods forsaken mountain was a waste of time. So was bringing him for that matter; he had better things to do than watch the Sanin kill incompetent underlings in anger.

"Of course Orochimaru-sama!" the red head answered without a second thought.

"Well?" Orochimaru pressed after a long moment, "Where is the shinobi?"

"Ah!" Karin fumbled, pushing her glasses up a bit. "Of course," she said, closing her eyes and concentrating.

"It's getting closer," she said with a frown.

Before she could say anything else a strong breeze blew through the clearing. Sasuke had to shield his eyes from the debris picked up by this wind, blinking rapidly as dirt got into his eyes. He thought he had seen someone for a split second, but no; it must have been his imagination.

"What?" Karin gasped in disbelief. "How?"

"What is it Karin-chan?" Orochimaru demanded.

"The… whoever it was…" she started haltingly, "just passed through here!"

Sasuke glanced quickly over at her and saw the look on her face, pure and utter shock, and he knew that she wasn't lying. The wind had died down now and he looked off into the direction that it had been blowing. So he really had seen someone for that instant, but it didn't make sense… the person he had seen should be back in Konoha, not out in the mountains.

* * *

Jiyuudo sat on the ground panting for a moment staring with wide eyes at her feet. What were those people doing here? Better yet, what was _he _doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be off killing his only family or something like that? Why had he stared at her like that? Sure, she had been in the Makaze so the eternity she had stood and stared at him for was not even a full second to normal people, but still. Why?

Why did she care?

She remembered the hurtful words she had thrown at him the last time they had spoken. Had he taken them to heart? A part of her wished that he hadn't, though she couldn't explain why. She just wrote it off as regret for words spoken in anger, ruining another friendship.

She shook her head violently to clear her head of useless thoughts and slowly got to her feet, wincing as her muscles groaned in protest. Oh how she hated the side effects of her technique. She had pushed the limit of her endurance, probably because she stopped and stared like an idiot. It would appear that 15 seconds was as long as she could go for now.

"I take it that you've met the trespassers," a low voice rumbled from a cave mouth.

"Yeah," she grunted as she arched her back, relishing in how her joints popped and muscles stretched.

"You know what to do."

Jiyuudo cast a sidelong glance at the gaping opening in the mountain side as she reached above her head. The sunlight caught on what she knew to be black shiny scales, and that light in turn reflected off of yellow eyes. For a moment she debated whether or not she should tell him to deal with his own problems and give her some answers, but decided against it.

"Yeah," she said as she turned away and began to retrace her steps. "I want answers when I get back," she said just before she re-entered the forest.

* * *

Sasuke sat on a rock near the edge of the clearing doing his best to ignore Karin. His mind was too preoccupied with who he had seen to really care about anything she had to say at this point. What was she doing all the way out here? Was she on a mission?

Orochimaru was conferencing with Kabuto about what their next move should be. He knew what it would end up being; find this mystery shinobi and bring him back to the nearest base for some tests. But the question was how they would find him, and capture him after that.

When Karin tried to get too close to him Sasuke stood up quickly. He couldn't just wait around for her to come back, especially when his teacher was plotting to capture her before he could get his answers from her. He began to stride purposefully in the direction that her chakra had gone, right into the dense forest.

"Sasuke-kun?" Karin called after him, "Where are you going?"

* * *

Jiyuudo hadn't been expecting to run into him, and especially not here. She stood completely still, hoping that maybe he hadn't seen her; but she knew that wasn't the case. They stood in silence for a long moment staring at each other, trying to see how the other had grown in the past year.

"Hi," she said dumbly, breaking the quiet that had settled around them.

When he didn't say anything she began to shift nervously from foot to foot. She found herself caring how she looked for the first time… ever. She probably looked like a bona fide mess to him. The dark blue capris that the hospital had provided her with were almost the right size, but still managed to hang loosely to her thin frame and end a few centimeters before they were supposed to, just like the black shirt they had given her. She curled her toes unknowingly, and she realized that she wasn't wearing shoes when her toes dug into the dirt. She flushed a bit at this, and her thoughts went to her dark skin; was it darker than the last time he had seen her? Spending a year in the sun had probably turned her skin a shade or two above mud brown; and she was suddenly very self-conscious as her eyes traveled over his porcelain skin. She ran a hand through her purple streaked hair and realized for the first time how long it had gotten. It had gone from half-way down her neck to half-way down her back, and now she wished that she had cut it when she had the chance.

She had to turn her gaze away from him after a while because it was becoming almost painful for her. He looked exactly how she remembered him, how she would sometimes see him in her dreams though she didn't know why. Looking at him was making her nostalgic, something she couldn't afford to be right now.

"Jizouko," he said finally and her gaze snapped back to him.

She only shook her head at him as she sensed another chakra signature drawing close to them. She didn't pause to give him an explanation as she jumped into the trees and took off in a random direction. Right now it didn't matter to her where she went, so long as she got away to somewhere she could sort through her jumbled emotions.


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke took off after her without a second thought. He could just see her flitting through the trees, but she was always just within sight; never more, never less. He concentrated chakra into his legs, speeding up considerably but she was still out of reach.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He was forced to tear his gaze away from his target when Karin caught up next to him.

"What?" he snapped angrily; he didn't have time for this!

"Is that him?" the red head asked, "Is that the shinobi that Orochimaru-sama is looking for?"

"You tell me," he growled, turning back just in time to catch purple-streaked brown hair whip around a tree, "you're the tracker nin."

"It is," she said with a slight frown, "are you going to try to catch him?"

"Her," he corrected as a smirk started to cross his features, "and I'm not going to _try_, I **will**."

* * *

Jiyuudo was starting to get short of breath as she dropped back down to the forest floor. Maybe she could shake her pursuers within the tree roots. She slipped easily into a small crevice formed when some soil had been washed out from beneath ancient tree roots and concentrated on masking her chakra. Seconds later two sets of sandaled feet ran past her hiding place.

She waited a few tense moments before releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding. She stayed still for a little longer before deciding that it was safe to leave her hiding spot. Oh how wrong she was…

As soon as she slid fully out from beneath the trees she was pounced on. She gasped in surprise at the added weight and chocked on the dirt she accidentally inhaled. She started to thrash wildly, trying to remove her assailant but to no avail. She soon found herself with her hands pinned behind her back and face pressed into the dirt.

"What do you want?" she seethed, trying again to throw the person off her back.

"Keep your chakra concealed," she recognized Sasuke's voice growling into her ear.

"Give me one good reason," she shot back, allowing her chakra to flare up unrestricted.

"Do it now," he ordered, tightening his grip on her wrists.

"Sasuke-kun?" a girl's voice came from the trees, "Where'd you go?"

"Shit," he muttered as he pulled Jiyuudo still struggling to her feet.

"Who's that?" Jiyuudo asked as he towed her in the opposite direction of the voice with a vice grip on her wrist. "And can I have my wrist back? I might need to use that soon…" _Like to slap you in the face!_

"Shut up and keep moving," he ordered, tugging harshly on her wrist and causing her to stumble.

"No!" she declared, digging her heels into the ground and trying to pry his fingers from her wrist. "I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me why you're here!"

"Too bad," he said, tightening his grip even more, "now conceal your chakra or else neither of us will get what we want."

Sasuke started again and Jiyuudo stumbled after him, concentrating on masking her chakra. She dug her heels in again when she realized what direction they were heading in.

"Wait," she said when Sasuke fixed her with an icy stare, "I know a better place."

She closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered her chakra and then opened them again, grabbing his hand and taking off. She had been in the Makaze for less than a second, but her body felt it when she stopped. She swayed dangerously on her feet and would have fallen to the ground if Sasuke hadn't caught her in time. She tried to say something – anything – to him, but the words wouldn't come to her and her body seemed intent on regenerating the chakra she had expended by using the Makaze twice in one day. Inky darkness crept into the edges of her vision and she tried to blink it away, fighting to stay awake.

* * *

"Jizouko?" Sasuke called as he shook the girl breathing shallowly in his arms. "Jizouko, wake up."

"Jiyuudo," she said weakly as she tried to stand, "my name… is Jiyuudo…"

"Okay, Jiyuudo," he decided to play along with her for now, "what're you doing out here?"

"Family," she whispered as her eyes slid shut, "my family…"

"What about them?" he asked, trying to bring her back to consciousness.

She didn't respond, though. Her breathing evened out as she fell asleep within his grasp. He couldn't quite believe it, had she _really_ been the one to defeat one of Orochimaru's summoning creatures? That didn't seem very likely as she lay asleep in his arms, unguarded and completely trusting.

He knew that he was expected to bring her back to his teacher, but he found that he couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. If he brought her to Orochimaru then he most likely wouldn't see her again, and that prospect made him frown for some reason. He decided that choice would best be left for when she awoke; whatever technique she had performed had obviously exhausted her, so she wouldn't be able to answer any questions if she wanted to.


	5. Chapter 5

When Jiyuudo awoke she immediately regretted it. Every part of her ached and the sunlight was blinding even from behind her eyelids. When she finally did crack her eyes open she wasn't greeted by the sky as she expected, but rather a long white snout and wet black nose. The snout opened and a long pink tongue lolled out and panting breaths fanned out across her face. She grimaced at what she liked to call "Essence of Makoto" as it overloaded her olfactory system. She groaned and tried to roll over, but her strength failed her and Makoto took that as a sign that he should start licking her face.

"Go away," she moaned as she weakly tried to push him away.

Makoto just licked his black nose before continuing.

"I told you he was insufferable without you," the dragon's voice rumbled from nearby.

"Aww, you're out of your cave!" she noted as she slowly got to her feet, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Hn, cute," the dragon in human form sniffed as he slid his hands into the sleeves of his black yukata. "Careful you don't cut yourself with that sharp tongue."

"Why are you even here?" she sighed heavily, stretching her arms above her head.

"There have been some unforeseen changes."

"Like what? You got too fat for your cave?"

"Like you're not to get anywhere near the trespassers," he corrected her with a pointed look.

"Why?" she asked after a pause.

"… Ask Isamu," he said before turning away.

Jiyuudo released a frustrated breath, blowing some hair out of her eyes. Makoto barked happily as he rubbed his head against her hand, apparently oblivious to the situation. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths as she buried her fingers in the canine's white hair.

* * *

Isamu was not expecting this when he had left to go hunting that morning. Instead of finding a deer or two he found shinobi gathered around the slowly decaying body of the snake. He sat with his back pressed against a tree trunk as he listened closely to what the shinobi were saying.

"What do you mean you 'lost him'?" a voice hissed angrily. Isamu guessed that the voice belonged to the pale, dark-haired man of the group.

"He was just… gone when I turned around," a girl explained in a shaky voice, obviously she was scared of this man.

"Well then go find him!" the man ordered, "And don't come back without him!"

Isamu shifted to get a better view of the girl and nearly jumped out of his skin. He was face to face with a young man with grey hair tied back and glasses. Isamu's first reaction was to thrust his fist out and punch the man squarely on the nose which crunched under the impact. The man stumbled backwards clutching his bleeding nose and Isamu burst from the bushes with a war cry, startling the two in the clearing.

Instead of attacking like he was clearly expected to he took a deep breath at the peak of his leap and did what he never thought he would do again. He calmed his mind and slipped into the Makaze.

* * *

"Kabuto!" Orochimaru snapped after a stunned moment, "What the Hell was that?"

"I don't know," Kabuto admitted as he tried to stem the blood streaming from his now broken nose. "Karin, was it the shinobi that killed the snake?"

"I… I can't be sure," the red head gulped, "I wasn't able to get a fix on him before he disappeared."

"Then get one now," Orochimaru ground out, his yellow eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Ah, right!" Karin nodded as she formed a hand sign and concentrated.

The only sound in the clearing was the sickening cracking of Kabuto resetting his nose. A deafening silence fell when a small frown etched itself onto Karin's pale lips.

"What?" Orochimaru spat the question out, but he felt that he already knew the answer.

"I can't… It's just like the other one… Like he's just disappeared…" Karin tried to find the right words.

Orochimaru threw back his head and let out a howl or rage.

* * *

"What the heck was that?" Jiyuudo frowned, turning her head towards the strange howl that echoed through the trees.

Makoto whined softly and nudged her thigh.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed as she started walking again, "can't keep Isamu waiting."

* * *

Isamu muttered to himself as he packed his few belongings into an old brown pack. He could feel the red eyed woman's gaze on him as she watched from the doorway to the small cottage they shared. He could practically hear the questions she wanted to ask even though she remained silent.

"Yes Tomoe, I'm leaving," he sighed as he closed the flap of his pack.

"I don't suppose it's a place where I can follow," the woman trailed off.

"It is," he said softly as he straightened his hunched shoulders and turned to face her, "but I've already told you—"

"And I've already told _you_," she cut him off, taking a step closer to him, "you wouldn't be able to get rid of me if you tried."

"And how many times did you change your mind?" he asked with a half-smile.

"That doesn't matter," Tomoe declared as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Of course," Isamu chuckled softly as he buried his nose into her two-toned hair.

"Will you wait for her?" Tomoe asked after a while, "For Jiyuudo?"

"I don't know," he admitted softly, "she might have to find her own way."

"Give her a day at least," Tomoe pleaded, pulling away a bit so she could look into his golden eyes. "Please?"

"Okay," Isamu found himself saying, "but only a day," he added before drawing Tomoe close to him again.


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke frowned deeply as he looked around the clearing. When he had left the clearing to get fire wood there had been a Jizouko sleeping propped up against a tree, and now there was not a trace of her. He scanned the grass carefully for the signs of someone passing; perhaps she had woken up and then wandered off – something she had done often in Konoha.

His frown only deepened when he saw that there were three sets of foot prints. One was an animal's and two were human. He knelt down closer to the smaller of the two human prints and followed them with his eyes until they disappeared into the underbrush along with the animal's. He had two options, follow the footprints and see where they led, or wait and see if Jizouko came back.

After a moment of thought he started following the footprints, drawing a kunai just in case.

* * *

The forest chittered quietly around Jiyuudo as she made her way between the tree trunks. She was about half way down the mountain by her estimate, so that meant that she should be close to the crumbling remains of the house…

Her pace slowed a bit. The house that she used to live in before… before a lot of things happened. She was still remembering bits and pieces of her past, but she knew what had happened in the big picture. Her parents had been killed when she was very young, and she had lived with Isamu for a few years until the team from Konoha had found her and brought her to live with them.

Now she had all but stopped as she – finally – began to think about her situation. She hadn't thought about how her personal revelation would impact her relationships. She didn't _feel_ like a different person, but who knew how she would feel when she rejoined society.

"Jizouko-chan?"

Jiyuudo looked around for the source of the voice, and a strange wave of emotions crashed over her when her eyes locked onto Isamu.

"Oji-chan," she managed to say in a choked voice.

"Jiyuudo," he said in a similar voice, his golden eyes shining.

"Uh… hi," she smiled weakly.

Makoto started sniffing the air, the only sound that Jiyuudo could hear until he padded off into the forest; apparently the canine didn't care much for family reunions.

"So you remember," Isamu said after a pause.

"Yeah," she nodded, biting at her lip. "I remember."

Isamu hummed softly and nodded to himself; eyes closed as if he was bracing himself for something.

"I… I was told to ask you," Jiyuudo started, rubbing at the back of her head. "Who are those people?"

"The man is one of two," he said after a deep breath.

"Two what?" she pressed when he didn't continue. "Isamu-san, who is he?"

"They came with the storm," he said, looking her in the eyes.

Jiyuudo's eyes widened as she stared at him in a stunned silence. There had been two? But she only remembered one, one with the Sharingan.

A startled cry followed by angry snarls interrupted her train of thought. She knew instantly that Makoto was involved somehow and took off towards the disturbance without a second thought.

* * *

Sasuke had followed what he assumed to be Jizouko's footsteps down the mountainside and the trees were beginning to thin out. He vaguely remembered passing through with Orochimaru and Kabuto, but he hadn't cared about the surroundings at the time.

Soft rustling in the bushes distracted him from the trail he was following, but when he looked up nothing appeared so he turned his attention back to the ground. Again he heard rustling but he ignored it assuming it was a bird or rabbit or something along those lines.

Oh how wrong he was.

Without warning he was knocked to the ground and pinned by a snarling white mass. His kunai had fallen out of his grip and he could just see it at the edge of his vision glinting in the light. He planted his hands against whatever was pinning him and began to push; only succeeding in creating a bit more room for his chest to expand with each breath. His fists wrapped around clumps of fur as he tried to wrench the form off of him when sharp teeth and claws started to scratch at his face and arms. He thought he heard yelling, but he couldn't be sure; maybe his mind had just imagined it in panic.

"Makoto, get off of him!" he recognized Jizouko's voice as another pair of hands aided him in pulling the beast off.

He rolled onto one side and breathed heavily, glaring at what could only be described as a white beast struggling to break free of Jizouko's tanned arms wrapped around its neck. The beast's black eyes shone with a feral light as it continued to bark and snarl at him. If he didn't know better he would've sworn that it was shrinking until it was the size of a wolf, still large by most standards but smaller than he thought it had been when it was on top of him.

"What is wrong with you?" Jizouko grunted as she let the wolf go.

The wolf – which he assumed was named Makoto – seemed to be sulking under the girl's stern gaze and only growled softly as it glanced towards Sasuke.

"Well, don't do it again!" she ordered.

Makoto whined in response.

"He's… he's a friend," she answered the beast.

Makoto just huffed and padded a short distance away where he lay down and trained his black eyes onto Sasuke. The Uchiha told himself that he didn't care that the beast was watching him, but he was a bit unsettled by the black eyes that he knew were following his movements

"What is that?" Sasuke asked as he got to his feet, he was reasonably sure that he had bruises now.

"Hm? Oh, him," Jizouko frowned at the wolf that was eyeing him suspiciously, "that's Makoto."

Makoto just growled lowly and pinned his ears back. Jizouko hissed sharply at him and he fell silent, causing Sasuke to arch an eyebrow; so she had some control over this animal?

His gaze shifted from the sulking white canine to the girl that he thought he knew. Only a year had passed since he had last seen her, but it was clear that she had grown much more than he had in his training. She was around his height now and her hair was longer, but she didn't carry herself any differently. Perhaps her physical changes hadn't quite registered with her yet. Past the physical he could tell that something else had changed too. If Karin was right about her being the one to kill the snake then she was strong, and he wanted to test this theory.

"Jizouko," he said, snapping her out of the stare down she had gotten into with Makoto. "Fight me."


	7. Chapter 7

"Excuse me?" Jiyuudo blinked as she registered what Sasuke had said. "You see me for the first time in a year in the middle of nowhere and your first reaction is to challenge me to a fight? No 'Hey, how've you been?' or 'What are you doing out in the middle of nowhere with no obvious means of survival?'? Wow, you really have not matured at all," she sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

Makoto's head perked up at this and his tail started to wag expectantly.

"No," she started, tuning and pointing at him, "you stay out of this."

The canine whined pitifully, but lowered his head in compliance.

"Now to answer your question," she said, turning back to face Sasuke. "No, I won't fight you. I would much rather have pleasant conversations with you than beat you into the ground like old times," she hinted to how their sparing matched would usually end back in Konoha.

"I've gotten stronger," he reasoned, obviously not willing to take 'no' for an answer.

"I'm sure you have," Jiyuudo sighed, "but right now I'm not interested in seeing who's the strongest, and if that's all you care about then I'm sorry, I'm not going to humor you."

It looked like she had slapped him. Maybe she should've done that instead; it probably would've gotten her point across quicker.

"If that's all you wanted then maybe you should leave," she suggested.

"Jizouko," he started, but she cut him off.

"No, Sasuke-kun," she shook her head and took a step back. "You might not have changed, but I have; and I'm tired of fighting. If you won't walk away then I will," she finished softly as she turned around and started to leave the clearing.

"And by the way," she said, glancing over her shoulder before she stepped into the trees. "It's Jiyuudo."

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Jizouko didn't want to fight? Who was this and what did they do with his old sparring partner? She knew the results of their old matches, so it had to be her. Had something happened to her that made her this way?

"And by the way," she said, looking back at him over her shoulder. "It's Jiyuudo."

What? So was this someone else after all? But how many other people had those features? Purple streaked hair was hard to come by, and not a lot of people had that many piercings. He started to go after her. To say he was sorry, to try to change her mind, to ask her why, to do something! But he didn't. He had vowed to sever all ties to Konoha, hadn't he? And that's exactly what she was. He just knew that no matter where or when he saw her he would be reminded of that place and the people he left there, and he could afford no such distractions if he was to fulfill his goal. So he too turned and left the clearing, but not before he felt the familiar sensation of her chakra on the breeze as it blew past him.

* * *

Jiyuudo couldn't believe it! But then again, she definitely could. Had it been too much for her to hope for catching up as opposed to a fight? Yes, it was. She should've known; Sasuke had always been highly goal-motivated, and since his goal was to get stronger then it would only make sense for him to challenge anyone and everyone.

"Ugh!" she groaned as she passed through the trees, tilting her head back and pressing the thumb and middle finger of one hand against her temples. "Why does he have to be so confusing? Better yet, why do I care?"

Makoto padded up next to her and nudged her side lightly; his attempt at an apology for how he had acted. She smiled a bit at this.

"You know something Mako?" she sighed as she rubbed his ears affectionately. "You would make a decent human being; saying you're sorry even though I was the one who was yelling…"

He just let his tongue loll out to one side and panted happily. At times she wondered if he could understand her, and other times she had no doubt. She sighed internally at her thoughts; she had spent too much time alone is she was worrying about an _animal_ understanding her… She had to get off of this mountain, and fast.

"And where might you be headed?" a familiar voice rumbled, though muted compared to what she was used to.

"Not sure," she admitted with a shrug. "The people here are looking for me – at least I think they are – and if I leave they'll follow, and if they're not looking for me then they'll still be here and you can go all 'Mystical Spirit Guardian' on them," she finished, glancing over at the dragon in human form.

"And what of the precious answers you came here seeking?" he asked skeptically. "If you returned for those then they would surely come back as well."

"I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there," she shrugged. "Besides, it's a big, wide world out there; someone's bound to know something."

"So you've set your course?" he asked, folding his hands into the sleeves of his shimmering yukata.

"Not in the slightest," Jiyuudo grinned, "I was just going to go where the wind takes me."

"Well, if that's your plan," the dragon started, withdrawing his hands from his sleeves, "then you might need this," he said, holding out to her a curved white blade.

She stared at it curiously for a moment. It looked like someone had taken a large fang or claw and stuck it on the end of a bone handle wrapped in light brown leather with two strands dangling off the end, one with three plain wooden beads and the other with a feather swaying in the breeze. She accepted it, wary of the sharp end as she turned it over in her hands.

"Thanks," she started as she offered it back to him, "but I already have two short swords; I'd have to grow another arm to use this."

"Hn, you don't seem to understand," he said, refusing to take it back. "This is a special blade; very few possess them and even fewer know what they are capable of."

"Well," she said expectantly after a long pause, "what can it do?"

"It's a tool from long ago," he said, staring at the white blade. "When man not only fought against himself, but against dragons and demons as well. Not only is it on of the few things capable of cutting through a dragon's scales, but it also has other qualities."

"Like what?" Jiyuudo pressed in wonder, her gaze drawn down to the present in her hands.

"Hm, it's a big, wide world out there; someone's bound to know something," he smirked as he folded his hands back into his sleeve and walked away.


	8. Chapter 8

"Damn old coot, always speaking in riddles," Jiyuudo muttered to herself as she adjusted the straps on her old pack.

The fabric was worn down in most places and the seams were beginning to pull apart, giving glimpses at its contents. She slung one of the straps over her shoulder, repeating the action with the opposite side before adjusting it so it would sit comfortably on her back. She glanced down at the canine sitting at her side, looking up at her and wagging his tail and she stopped and paused for a moment.

Should she take him with her? She hadn't quite thought about it; but then again, she hadn't quite thought about the decision to leave in the first place. Why not? She decided as she motioned for him to walk alongside her as she set off.

Makoto barked happily as he trotted up next to her, pausing only for a moment to pick up the strange blade that she had been given. She laughed lightly as she rested a hand between his ears as they began their descent.

"Who knows, maybe you can use that thing, Mako!"

* * *

"Travel Log: Day 5," Jiyuudo said aloud with a playful light in her eyes, pretending to write in the old, leather-bound book she had fished out of her pack. "The weather has been great so far; if only that went for the company as well. Makoto is in dire need of a bath," he lifted his white head at the mention of his name, "but then again, so am I so I can't pass judgment," she winced as a greasy piece of hair fell limply into her face. "On an unrelated note, I have noticed that the stores have been diminished more than would be expected after less than a week," she mused aloud with a knowing look at her companion.

He just snorted as he crossed his paws and rested his chin on them, refusing to look at her.

"Honestly," she laughed, rocking back slightly, "it's like I'm traveling with… with… Taka-kun," she finished in a choked whisper.

She sucked in a shaky breath as she turned her face up to the stars that twinkled above her and closed her eyes, trying to will away the moisture that gathered in her eyes. How long had it been? Almost a year; amazing how the time had passed. It seemed like just yesterday they'd met for the first time…

There was no time for reminiscing as the sound of a twig snapping cut through the still night air. Jiyuudo sprung to her feet, snapped the journal shut and shoved it into her pack before readying herself for a fight. Makoto got to his feet as well and sniffed the air, curling his upper lip into a snarl as a low growl escaped his throat. Both of them perked up more when they heard voices in conversation.

"This is stupid, why did we have to be picked to find firewood? That's a child's task!" it sounded like a boy around Jiyuudo's age, maybe a little bit older.

"Quiet," a second male chastised the first. "If Katsuo-sama asks you to do something, you do it without question. If you do not wish to follow our leader's directions, then maybe you should leave."

"I… My apologies," the first voice said quickly.

A chill ran down Jiyuudo's spine when she picked up sinister chakra approaching from behind her. She dove behind a raised tree root and cautiously peeked over it into the now vacant clearing. She found that she had been right about the two voices being around her age when two boys maybe three years older than her stepped into the ring of trees.

She gasped when she saw the taller of the two; handsome didn't seem to do him justice and beautiful would imply that he was feminine in some way, which he wasn't. She cursed herself mentally as she quickly ducked down behind the root and pressed her back against the tree's trunk. How could she have been so stupid as to make a sound? Sure she had learned better in the past year!

"Is someone there?" the first asked cautiously as Jiyuudo pressed herself harder against the bark, clamping her eyes shut and willing herself invisible.

"It's okay," the second voice said very close to her, "we won't hurt you."

Jiyuudo opened an eye a crack and nearly squealed at the deep, navy blue eyes staring into her own magenta hues. There it was again, all the breath left her lungs when he gently took one of her hands and pulled her to her feet. Her mind screamed at her to do something other than stare his pale face framed by ebony fringe. She must be trapped in some kind of jutsu, one that rendered her mute and left her limbs too heavy to move on her own.

"Heh heh, shame we can't say the same," a dark voice chuckled, snapping Jiyuudo out of her trance.

Her eye flicked over to look past the boy's shoulder and her blood ran cold.

_Oto-nin._

She quickly shoved past the boy, freeing her hand in the process so she could perform a string of lightning fast hand seals. She drew her fist back to strike; feeling the chakra building, swirling over her skin.

_Wind Release: Hurricane Fist!_

She sent a swift uppercut into the nearest one's chin, sending him flying and spinning. She turned to see another taken down by a snarling Makoto before she felt her feet leave the ground.

"You'll do nicely," a man breathed down her neck as she started struggling.

"Sorry to disappoint," she grunted as she slammed her head back into the Oto-nin's nose.

The man groaned after the sickening crunch of his nose being broken. Jiyuudo shuddered a bit when she felt his blood drip onto her neck. A solid thunk sounded when something connected with the man holding Jiyuudo's head, then his grip went slack and he dropped her.

"My name's Takehiko," the dark eyed boy introduced himself with a smile as he hefted a thick branch. "What's yours?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Jiyuudo," the purple eyed girl said, giving the teen an unsure half-smile in return for his grin.

"What're you doing out here, Jiyuudo-san?" Takehiko asked, "It can be quite dangerous at times."

"I can take care of myself," Jiyuudo said defensively, gesturing to the incapacitated Oto-nin on the ground.

"Well," the black-haired teen started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "There are worse things to run into than some shinobi."

"Like what?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hips to one side.

"I… uh, well… I mean… Hiraku-kun!" he called to the other teen who had simply watched them from a distance. "What do you think?"

"Oh no," Hiraku said, raising his hands with his palms outwards, "you got yourself into this one, you can get yourself out."

Takehiko made a face at his companion before turning back to face Jiyuudo.

"Why're you out here by yourself?" he changed the subject.

"I'm not by myself," she said, and as if on cue Makoto padded into the clearing.

"I see," he said as he watched the large white dog warily.

"He doesn't bite," she said calmly, glancing back at the canine, "hard."

"Well that's comforting," Takehiko muttered to himself. "Why don't you come back to our camp with us?" he asked in a louder voice.

"Takehiko-kun," Hiraku said in a warning tone, "Katsuo-sama won't be pleased."

"Oh, hush," the pale skinned teen said, "it'll be fine; we'll just bring more firewood."

* * *

Jiyuudo gave a small smile as she walked with Takehiko and Hiraku through the dimly light woods. The taller of the two was doing his best to lighten the mood that the shorter of the two kept bringing back to reality.

"I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea," the brown haired teen said for the tenth time.

"Calm down," Takehiko sighed yet again, "everything will be fine!"

"How will this be fine?" Hiraku demanded; stopping and throwing his bundle of wood onto the forest floor. "You know better than anyone how things are with the clan, how low supplies are running! Not to mention all the people that have been going missing-"

"I know," the taller teen snapped, cutting off his companion. "Don't lecture me about these things; besides, I'm only suggesting that she stay the night. Whether she stays is up to her."

Hiraku only growled in a sort of acceptance before he started to pick his bundle back up. Jiyuudo crouched down beside him and helped him silently, her good mood from earlier gone. The three continued walking in silence until a faint hum in the distance rose in the air.

"I will go on ahead," Hiraku said softly.

"Wait," Takehiko said as he caught the teen's arm. "Don't tell Junko-chan about the attack."

"Of course," the shorted teen said with a slight bow.

"What was Hiraku-kun talking about?" Jiyuudo asked once the teen in question was out of sight.

"Perhaps you should see for yourself," he suggested, gesturing for her to continue on through the trees.

She gave him a mildly sour look before she complied and pushed through the tree line. She was greeted by a large campsite illuminated by the gentle glow of many fires dotted between covered wagons and tents gathered together.

"What is this place?" she asked, looking back to Takehiko.

"Aside from the obvious?" he asked with a slight smirk, and she gave him a sour look in reply. "It's the caravan of the Yamakaze clan."

* * *

Jiyuudo sat cross-legged between Takehiko and Hiraku with a simple wooden plate balanced on her lap, picking at its contents with her fingers as she watched the others seated around the campfire. There was Junko – Takehiko's sister; a brown eyed girl around Jiyuudo's age who shared her brother's black hair, Akemi – another girl around Jiyuudo's age with light brown hair and eyes who kept glancing over at Takehiko, Benjirou – Takehiko's brother who looked almost exactly like him except his skin was a bit darker. There were more seated with them, but they didn't pay Jiyuudo enough mind to introduce themselves, and that suited her just fine.

"So, Jiyuudo-chan," Benjirou started as he leaned in closer to her, "what were you doing out in the woods by yourself?"

"She already told you, Bakarou," Takehiko cut in before she could answer; "she was going to meet her cousin in another village."

So, Jiyuudo hadn't actually said that; but she hadn't corrected Takehiko when he first said it and apparently whatever he said was the unadulterated truth to this group.

"She never said that, Takehiko-san," Hiraku said quietly as he picked at his food, "and if I remember correctly Jiyuudo-san never actually agreed to come with us, you just decided to bring her along like an interesting stone you found on the riverbank."

The group fell quiet as all eyes turned to Jiyuudo. She shifted a bit under their gazes, not sure of what they expected.

"If it means anything, I don't regret it," she said with a sheepish grin.

"See? And you said she didn't want to come!" Takehiko laughed as he clapped Hiraku on the back.

"That may be true, but why were you out there alone?" the teen continued with a suspicious edge in his voice.

"I… well," Jiyuudo started, suddenly finding her plate very interesting. "I'm not sure," she cringed a bit as she waited for what she expected an explosive reaction.

"Were you going to meet someone?" Akemi asked, trying to be helpful.

"I guess," she shrugged as she answered. "I spent the last year pretty much on my own, so I guess I'm trying to find a place to belong."

"Well, you can belong here with us," Benjirou suggested as he reached over to grab a hold of her hand.

"That'd be nice," Jiyuudo smiled up at the rest of the group who were all looking at her.

Benjirou smiled and squeezed her hand, Takehiko wrapped an arm around her shoulder and grinned widely, Akemi and Junko both smiled warmly at her, and from the corner of her eye Jiyuudo saw Hiraku give her a poorly concealed suspicious look.


End file.
